Buck Showalter Officially Hired as Baltimore Orioles Manager

It took a while, but the Baltimore Orioles have finally hired former New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter to lead them on the field.

Showalter will make his managerial debut with the Orioles on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

I asked Daniel from one of the best sites for Orioles information, Camdencrazies.com, what his thoughts were on the Showalter move, and here is what he had to say:

“To be honest, I’m not a big believer in managers mattering much. Most of them make the same in-game mistakes, and a big part of their job is behind the scenes stuff that I have no good knowledge of. I can see both sides of him starting now—it’s not fresh, but it does give him a meaningless stretch to see what’s going on.

I recall seeing Buck use Wins Above Replacement in some analysis for ESPN, so that’s at least a small plus. I’m fine with the move overall—no huge negatives spring to mind.”

I do agree with a lot of what Daniel said. Baseball managers, unlike football or basketball coaches, don’t make a world of difference on the field. Would the Orioles be any better this year if they had Joe Girardi managing them? Absolutely not.

What a baseball manager needs to be for the most part is a mediator in the clubhouse. Like Daniel mentioned, we as bloggers, or just fans, don’t have access or knowledge of what goes on in the clubhouse.

However, I am not really sure why Showalter is starting at the beginning of August. That part I really don’t get.

The Orioles are going to lose for the remainder of the season no matter who is managing the team. Why tarnish Showalter’s image?

It’s like bringing in a top sales guy to a company where he doesn’t sell anything for two months. Once it’s proven he can’t sell, then all the luster and hype is over, and nobody can get it back.

I would have let Showalter start next year and start fresh.

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